Woman Accused of Nearly Killing Baby with Medications

By
Heather Mathis
By
hmathis@wbbjtv.com

HENDERSON COUNTY Tenn.- A Lexington mother is accused of nearly killing her 2-month-old son, after high levels of codeine and morphine were found in the child's system.

Court documents showed in early December Bonner's son stopped breathing and was taken to the hospital. Drug tests found the child tested positive for the the medications.

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News shared the court papers with a local doctor who says the amount of codeine and morphine found in the baby's system is higher that would be acceptable for an adult.

"By looking at the numbers the child is lucky to be alive," said Dr. Peter Gardner.

Bonner was arrested on January 9, and is being charged with attempted aggravated child abuse. Bonner gave a written statement saying she had given her son NyQuil to help his stop coughing and to sleep.

"That's impossible. That's impossible to have levels of codeine and morphine in your system like that," said Dr. Gardner.

Bonner was released from jail on $5,000 bond, and can have supervised visitation with her two children.

Police said both of Bonner's children are being taken care of by a family member. Her court date has been reset to April 2.